A little girl who was born with five different conditions affecting her heart has inspired a climbing challenge.
Four-year-old Daisy Moore, from Ewell, has inspired Dave Mayall, 50, to climb Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon in 24 hours, including travelling, to raise money for Chase Hospice, where she is cared for from time to time.
Little Daisy was born with atrioventricular discordance, which means the top half of her heart has twisted round, and ventriculo-arteral discordance, a rare birth disorder which means her heart cannot pump blood around her body fast enough.
The toddler, who receives treatment at Royal Brompton hospital, also has a hole in her heart, suffers from pulmonary valve stenosis which is a thickening of the valve’s wall restricting the flow of blood leaving her heart, and has her organs on the wrong side of her body.
Mr Mayall said: “Daisy goes to school with my daughter, Isabelle, and I thought ‘why not do this for Daisy and Chase Hospice?’
“Last year I climbed the Kilimanjaro for the Children’s Trust and raised £2,500.
"This time we’ll just try and raise whatever we can because every little bit helps them to keep going.”
Her mum, Louise, 32, said: “Daisy’s doctors have said she is the only child they have ever seen with all these conditions at the same time.
"She needs a full heart repair.
"At the moment, her heart floods her lungs and she has difficulty doing things other children can do easily and if she tires herself she turns blue and needs to go to the hospital.
“Dave, whose daughter goes to school with Daisy, has offered to do the climbing to raise money for Chase Hospice, because whenever I need some time to do shopping or run errands, that’s where she stays, and they need all the help they can get.”
Today (March 25), Mrs Moore and her husband, Robert, 45, will be told the date for Daisy’s major surgery, which she has an 80 per cent chance of surviving, according to her doctors.
Mrs Moore said: “Last year we had 22 ambulances coming to the house because whenever she falls ill with anything she is in hospital.
"But we try to make her life as normal as possible by, for instance, keeping her at West Ewell Infant School.
“The thing is she can’t do all the same things other children can. Her dream is to ride a bike, but she can’t at the moment.”
To support Mr Mayall’s challenge go to www.justgiving.com/david-mayall.
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